Jan. 27, 1962 - U.S. pilots are risking their lives dropping live pigs and chickens to starving South Vietnamese troops at army outposts along the Laos frontier. Major Charles P. Barnett described today how nine forts, isolated by Communist guerrillas, were resupplied by air after some were out of food and dangerously low on ammunition. The occupants of two outposts had been reduced to eating field mice and bamboo shoots late in December when Major Barnett flew through mountain passes under cloud cover to drop rations. Through the open door of his C-47, Vietnamese soldiers pushed live pigs and chickens in wicker baskets as well as rice and fruit. One pig broke out of the basket and fell free. Major Barnett, a World War II bomber pilot, is advisor to a transport group of the South Vietnamese Air Force.
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